Ci ho provato, diverse volte ed in momenti diversi, l'ultima volta giusto ieri, ma proprio non ce la faccio.
A me "Berlin" non piace. E in generale non mi piace Lou Reed. Non mi piacciono nemmeno "Transformer" e il primo dei Velvet Underground, tanto per dare l'idea.
E nonostante non avessi apprezzato "The Velvet Underground and Nico" mi ero avvicinato a "Berlin" come primo disco da solista di Lou Reed con aspettative molto alte, viste le tante belle parole spese sul suo conto.
Qualcuno avrà da rimarcare che questa è la quinta recensione di questo album, ma, mentre le altre quattro lo elevano unanimente a capolavoro, io voglio dare una visione alternativa, che con grossa probabilità mi frutterà una bella raffica di pesci in faccia. Pazienza.
L'atmosfera che pervade "Berlin" è cupa, si racconta una storia di droga, depressione e morte, il che fa indubbiamente presa sull'animo dell'ascoltatore. Il problema è il modo in cui questa storia viene tradotta in musica.
Il problema principale è Lou Reed stesso, col suo cantato monocorde, asettico e ai limiti dell'amelodico, che mi risulta particolarmente noioso e non riesce mai a muovermi nessuna corda emozionale, considerato anche che la musica che partorisce non incontra molto i miei gusti. Non saprei dare una spiegazione razionale a questa sensazione, so solo che dopo ripetuti ascolti non sono mai riuscito a trovare nulla che mi facesse cambiare idea. E questo va a scapito dell'empatia che si dovrebbe creare nei confronti dei protagonisti del dramma messo in scena.
Il secondo grande limite lo riscontro nella produzione ad opera di Bob Ezrin. Lo stesso Bob Ezrin che ha prodotto "The Wall", ovvero quello che forse considero il miglior disco dei Pink Floyd, ma che qui a mio avviso fallisce. La mia critica è di carattere tecnico, e mi si potrebbe obiettare che non è carino mettersi a sindacare sul lato puramente tecnico (che rappresenta il mezzo) quando si parla di un disco del genere, pervaso da un tema talmente drammatico (che è il fine). Ma se il mezzo è inadeguato il fine non viene raggiunto a pieno. In sostanza il disco suona brutto, e non perchè in generale gli arrangiamenti sono volutamente scarni per conferire quell'atmosfera di cupezza di cui sopra, scelta che in sè non è passibile di critica, suona brutto perchè spesso manca un amalgama di fondo fra le varie componenti.
Infine, oltre a suonare brutto, il disco è anche suonato in maniera mediocre: non mi addentro troppo nei particolari, che richiederebbero troppo spazio, dico solo che in generale le parti di batteria, basso e chitarre non mi piacciono nè per come sono concepite, nè per come sono realizzate. E poco importa se il basso sta nelle mani di Jack Bruce, anzi, questo è forse un motivo di delusione in più.
Sia dato il via al lancio di pesci.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Berlin (03:25)
In Berlin, by the wall
you were five foot ten inches tall
It was very nice
candlelight and Dubonnet on ice
We were in a small cafe
you could hear the guitars play
It was very nice
it was paradise
You're right and I'm wrong
hey babe, I'm gonna miss you now that you're gone
One sweet day
Oh, you're right and I'm wrong
you know I'm gonna miss you now that you're gone
One sweet day
One sweet day
In a small, small cafe
we could hear the guitars play
It was very nice
candlelight and Dubonnet on ice
Don't forget, hire a vet
he hasn't had that much fun yet
It was very nice
hey honey, it was paradise
You're right and I'm wrong
oh babe, I'm gonna miss you now that you're gone
One sweet day
You're right, oh, and I'm wrong
you know I'm gonna miss you now that you're gone
One sweet day
One sweet day
One sweet day, one sweet day
oh, one sweet day
One sweet day, baby-baby, one sweet day
one sweet day, one sweet day
04 Caroline Says I (03:57)
Caroline says that I'm just a toy
she wants a man, not just a boy
Oh, Caroline says, ooohhh, Caroline says
Caroline says she can't help but be mean
or cruel, or oh so it seems
Oh, Caroline says, Caroline says
She say she doesn't want a man who leans
Still she is my Germanic -
- Queen
Yeah, she's my Queen
The things she does, the things she says
people shouldn't treat others that way
But at first I thought I could take it all
Just like poison in a vial
hey, she was often very vile
But of course, I thought I could take it all
Caroline says that I'm not a man
so she'll go get it catch as catch can
Oh, Caroline says, yeah, Caroline says
Caroline says moments in time
can't continue to be only mine
Oh, Caroline says, yeah, Caroline says
She treats me like I am a fool
But to me she's still a German -
- Queen, ooohhh, she's my -
- Queen, ya ...
Queen, hey baby, she's my Queen
(Queen)
(Queen)
(Queen)
(Queen)
(Queen)
(Queen)
(Queen)
(Queen)
...
05 How Do You Think It Feels (03:43)
How do you think it feels
when you're speeding and lonely, come here baby
How do you think it feels
when all you can say is if only
If only I had a little
if only I had some change, come here baby
If only, if only, if only
How do you think it feels
and when do you think it stops
How do you think it feels
when you've been up for five days, come down here mama
Hunting around always, ooohhh
'cause you're afraid of sleeping
How do you think it feels
to feel like a wolf and foxy
How do you think it feels
To always make love by proxy, huh
how do you think it feels
And when do you think it stops
when do you think it stops
06 Oh, Jim (05:12)
All your two-bit friends they're shootin' you up with pills They said that it was good for you that it would cure your ills I don't care just where it's at I'm just like an alley cat And when you're filled up to here with hate don't you know you gotta get it straight Filled up to here with hate beat her black and blue and get it straight Do, do, do, do, do, do when you're lookin' through the eyes of hate All your two-bit friends they asked you for your autograph They put you on the stage they thought it'd be good for a laugh But I don't care just where it's at 'cause honey, I'm just like an alley cat And when you're filled up to here with hate don't you know you gotta get it straight Filled up to here with hate beat her black and blue and get it straight Uh-huh Oh, Jim how could you treat me this way Hey, hey, hey how could you treat me this way Oh, Jim how could you treat me this way Hey, hey how could you treat me this way You know you broke my heart ever since you went away Now you said that you love us but you only make love to one of us Oh, oh, oh, oh, Jim how could you treat me this way You know you broke my heart ever since you went away When you're looking through the eyes of hate oh, oh, oh, oh When you're looking through the eyes of hate oh, oh, oh, oh When you're looking through the eyes of hate oh, oh, oh, oh When you're looking through the eyes of hate oh, oh, oh, oh When you're looking through the eyes of hate oh, oh, oh, oh When you're looking through the eyes of hate oh, oh, oh, oh ...
08 The Kids (07:53)
They're taking her children away
Because they said she was not a good mother
They're taking her children away
Because she was making it with sisters and brothers
And everyone else, all of the others
Like cheap officers who would stand there and flirt in front of me
They're taking her children away
Because they said she was not a good mother
They're taking her children away
Because of the things that they heard she had done
The black Air Force sergeant was not the first one
And all of the drugs she took, every one, every one
And I am the Water Boy, the real game's not over here
But my heart is overflowin' anyway
I'm just a tired man, no words to say
But since she lost her daughter
It's her eyes that fill with water
And I am much happier this way
They're taking her children away
Because they said she was not a good mother
They're taking her children away
Because number on was the girl friend from Paris
The things that they did - ah - they didn't have to ask us
And then the Welshman from India, who came here to stay
They're taking her children away
Because they said she was not a good mother
They're taking her children away
Because of the things she did in the streets
In the alleys and bars, no she couldn't be beat
That miserable rotten slut couldn't turn anyone away
I am the Water Boy, the real game's not over here
But my heart is overflowin' anyway
I'm just a tired man, no words to say
But since she lost her daughter
It's her eyes that fill with water
And I am much happier this way
09 The Bed (05:51)
This is the place where she lay her head
when she went to bed at night
And this is the place our children were conceived
candles lit the room brightly at night
And this is the place where she cut her wrists
that odd and fateful night
And I said, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, what a feeling
And I said, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, what a feeling
This is the place where we used to live
I paid for it with love and blood
And these are the boxes that she kept on the shelf
Filled with her poetry and stuff
And this is the room where she took the razor
and cut her wrists that strange and fateful night
And I said, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, what a feeling
And I said, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, what a feeling
I never would have started if I'd known
that it's end this way
But funny thing, I'm not at all sad
that it stopped this way
This is the place where she lay her head
when she went to bed at night
And this is the place our children were conceived
candles lit the room brightly at night
And this is the place where she cut her wrists
That odd and fateful night
And I said, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, what a feeling
And I said, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, what a feeling
10 Sad Song (06:59)
Staring at my picture book
she looks like Mary, Queen of Scots
She seemed very regal to me
just goes to show how wrong you can be
I'm gonna stop wastin' my time
Somebody else would have broken both of her arms
Sad song, sad song
Sad song, sad song
My castle, kids and home
I thought she was Mary, Queen of Scots
I tried so very hard
shows just how wrong you can be
I'm gonna stop wasting time
Somebody else would have broken both of her arms
Sad song, sad song
Sad song, sad song
Sad song, sad song
Sad song, sad song
Sad song, sad song
Sad song, sad song
...
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Altre recensioni
Di hans
Creò un'opera che scava a fondo nell'anima dell'artista, più di ogni lavoro pubblicato sulla scena americana negli ultimi 50 anni.
Berlin. Il capolavoro assoluto (tra i tanti) dell'autore newyorkese, merita un posto tra i più grandi dischi del '900.
Di luca reed
È un disco che ferisce, sconvolge, distrugge, Berlin.
Una sorta di film à la Douglas Sirk se fosse un film. O un feuilleton d’autore se fosse un romanzo.
Di Stronko
‘‘Berlin’ inizia dolente da un riverbero lontano di voci, suoni di fine festa e un pianoforte stanco e il sussurro di Lou che scivola su un blues malinconico e decadente.’
‘‘Per me sarà sempre un album unico e indimenticabile’.
Di AR (Anonima Recensori)
Qui Reed si spoglia, in atteggiamento poetico, crudele verso se stesso.
Un disco musicalmente e melodicamente particolare, dalle cadenze pesanti, che alla distanza si ama come un amico sincero.
Di carlo cimmino
Avevo sbagliato. La testata era stata un clamoroso errore: avrei dovuto mollarla a lei.
Fuori pioveva. Galleggiavo in una malconcia e impolverata poltrona di pelle ed al buio lo ascoltavo in religioso silenzio, quando capii.
